Heck yeah! LOL

I think in the US that runes would mostly be associated with paganism/ Asatru if anything.

It is in European countries too, but the thing is that there it's a part of their past and some groups are usually seen as xenophobic or as supremacists as soon as they feel proud about their heritage. This comic captures the spirit of it pretty well and is related to the thread: http://loldaddy.com/images/uploaded_pics/loldaddy.com-1329713438.jpg

I personally don't look at that symbol and think Nazi but I can see how others have said it could cause others to think there is a connection. My advice don't get it if you want to avoid the confussion

Having just typed Nazi symbols into google the image you linked appears 4 rows down so make of that what you will......

So, over the current school day, I thought it over alot. Basically. I know it's not bad. Originally it's not a bad thing. Culturally it's not a bad thing. Ignorant people think ignorant things. The basis of this thread was for History friendly people to tell whether it was originally a bad symbol.
I don't give 2 [censored] less what people think of it. I know I said that before, I don't have a way with words. (ask the girlfriend)



I too typed that in, I also seen the Star of David on google images under the search of "Nazi Symbol"

Also, a bit off topic. But the first link has a Hammer in one hand and a Sickle in the other, commonly known as the Soviet Union symbol. Any relation between the two?

There is nothing wrong with it at all, and germans still use it for their national teams: http://www.icejerseys.com/images/iihf_2010_swift_replica_jerseys/germany(black)_big.jpg, or http://www.talksport.co.uk/sites/default/files/imagecache/ts_news_article_header_image/Stefan%20Kiessling.jpg.

Twas in a sporting context that I think of that symbol as it happens

A swastica is also not a bad symbol

..... Why would someone want to make you feel bad because you are of German descent? I must have missed that because I'm well over 75% German, have a German name, etc. and I've never met a single person who tried to make me feel bad for it. Just because someone would be offended by what they preceive as a Nazi symbol doesn't mean they have anything against Germans. Nazis do not equal Germans.

And just because this irks me to no end....
Ignorant -adjective
1. lacking in knowledge or training; unlearned
2. lacking knowledge or information on a particular subject or fact
3. uninformed; unaware

We are ALL ignorant. That word doesn't mean someone's an idiot, it means you are uneducated or unaware of a subject. Just because someone is ignorant about the basis of this particular symbol doesn't mean they're a moron.

To the OP: And I have to agree with those who said that you'll likely have to deal with explaining it and/or offending complete strangers and depending on where your tattoo is, it could possibly cause issues in the workforce. If you have any questions about it and don't want to spend the rest of your life explaining it, I would suggest something else.

I think with all tattoos, you need to think about what an employer would think if they saw it, so just put it somewhere where it's going to be covered up.

Exactly. Most Americans aren't aware of how much Germany contributed to our own culture, in part because the English got credit for everything, in part because in and after the World Wars, it became a faux pas to speak of anything German as positive. Unfortunate.

Not Nazi

I usually agree, but in this case it's a bit different in some ways. Even untrue rumours about you being a Nazi sympathizer can lead to more trouble than it's worth. We've already established that the symbold doesn't have anything to do with Nazism, but the truth only matters as long as people care to believe in it.

What makes people idiots is how they handle their ignorance, not that they are ignorant. To be fair we can only act upon the information we currently possess and we quite often have little way of knowing when we are ignorant (like widespread misconceptions among the populace etc), but the thing is that idiots rush to pick sides despite knowing nothing. If a person calls the wearer of the afore mentioned symbol a Nazi because of it and you ask the person what symbol it is and why it's related to Nazis and the person answers "I don't know what symbol it is. It's Nazi because it's German" then he's not exactly the sharpest knife in the box. A non-idiot would try to find out before starting to call names.

And there are people who automatically make the German-Nazi connection. For instance there was an incident in Sweden where a couple of people, one Swiss and the other either Swiss or German, sat in a café. Not that far away was a group of younger men at another table, and when they heard that the couple were talking in German they first started off by using German ja's (as in yes. And before someone informs me that it's "ja" in both German and Swedish I will point out that they changed the way they pronounced it) in their speech and later on went on to standing up and walking at the spot as if marching and other things like that. There's also been older people calling Rammstein Nazi music because it's in German and other things like that. It's gotten better lately I'd say, but no one has ever cared to "battle" it from what I've seen since things allegedly related to Nazism or racism have always been fair game for anyone who's felt like hating.

It does svck that people act like that. When I was in school and people found out I was born in Germany (not even German - just born there) I got a lot of flak. It's stupid.
But on the second paragraph: if I assumed (even wrongly) that someone had symbols of a racist movement on their body, the last thing I'd do is confront them. Those people are thugs. If that symbol has been adopted by neo-nazi movements - even if it wasn't a nazi symbol to begin with - I'd imagine most people would likely just stay the hell away from you out of fear, which could be even worse than having the opportunity to explain and educate.

It's forbidden to use unconstitutional signs in Germany.

That looks fine tbh. But yeah, if the symbol looks like it can be connected with something terrible, for your own sake, you shouldn't use it. This is not the case with that eagle though.

That's a plausible outcome too which is probably among the more likely ones. But as said there are other risks too, though depending on where you live. Some immigrant groups are pretty quick to "deal" with alleged racists as soon as they think they have found one, and there are political groups like anti-Fascists, anti-racists etc who are on the same page. Though the latter may not be as much of a risk since they seem to go after politically active people or people who are vocal about decreasing immigration and the likes. There are plenty of "normal" people who easily get upset too for that matter and it doesn't always stop at verbal arguments. And last, to be fair not every neo-Nazi is a thug(though many are scum). Some are just ignorant kids who have gotten a bit lost. (Not condoning Nazism, I just don't like a black and white view of things. I also think it's counterproductive to demonize some groups too much, since you may end up blind to the causes for their existence and growth)

Just because it's wrong from a legal standpoint doesn't mean it is unethical. If I was a dictator and made a law forcing everyone to burn their firstborn alive as a sacrifice to my honor then it wouldn't necessarily mean that burning babies would suddenly become a good thing to do. And SilverEagle will have to elaborate him/herself on what he/she actually meant, but it's possible that it was along the lines of the earlier discussion about the swastika being a good symbol in Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism etc and therefore not inherently evil.

but not in native american tribes

Ehm, sure, why not?

There may be neo-nazis who wouldn't hurt a fly (I can't quite see it myself), but if they associate with a group like that, I'd be afraid of them and wouldn't go near them. Better to be safe than sorry I say.

I think spiders are neat, but if I chose to have a cobweb tattooed onto my elbow, I'd expect most people to think I've done hard time.

Are those people ignorant in jumping to conclusions, and not thinking I'm just an arachnophile? I don't think so.

This depends on where you live too - what does the symbol most often mean to those around you. A Maltese cross on a hardcoe biker has a different connotation than it would on a Maltese citizen.

Webs on the elbows is one of the tackiest tattoo designs out there. Almost as bad as hollow stars.

I'd say it varies. Ignorance is about whether or not one is informed concerning a specific subject (seen in the definition given on the previous page), and if pretty much every tattoo with the same looks and placement represents having done time, then it's not as ignorant imo (but still, if there are other meanings and one does not know them then it qualifies as ignorance either way). But in the end there's a difference between being ignorant on a certain subject and reaching a conclusion. Ignorance is not knowing that a Swastika has other usages than just as a Nazi symbol, but it's a perfectly understandable conclusion to reach that a swastika-wearer is a neo-Nazi if he looks like a stereotypical neo-Nazi and lives in a country where the only usage of swastikas are in the context of Nazism.

Who cares? One man's "bad" is another mans "good".

Yes, but that does not make everyone's value judgement of equal worth.

I'm a Jew and this isn't offensive, so you're good.